9/6/04… Elliott Sadler got his name up in lights for winning the inaugural fall event at the California Speedway. The event suffered through intense southern California heat and 11 caution periods. The Fontana facility is known for its windy atmosphere, and debris blowing out of the grandstands has always been a problem there. During a caution period in Sunday night's event, NASCAR officials were seen walking through the infield areas picking up food wrappers off of the ground. The swirling paper debris had been sticking to the air intakes on the noses of the racecars causing them to overheat, severely affecting their performance.

Mark Martin led a race high 65 laps and was considered one of the drivers with the best chance to win, along with Kasey Kahne, who finished second for the fifth time this season. It's kind of strange that Kahne is at then end of the top ten in points, along with Martin. Martin hasn't had nearly as good a season as has Kahne, but he has perked up his performance in the last couple of months.

Following Sadler and Kahne across the finish line in the top ten were Mark Martin, Jamie McMurray, Ryan Newman, rookies Carl Edwards and Scott Riggs, Dale Jarrett, Robby Gordon, and Rusty Wallace. The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Brian Vickers* -- #25 Chevy -- finished 13th
2. Jeremy Mayfield -- #19 Dodge -- finished 16th
3. Bill Elliott -- #98 Dodge -- finished 25th
4. Kurt Busch -- #97 Ford -- finished 12th
5. Kasey Kahne* -- #9 Dodge -- finished 2nd
6. Casey Mears -- #41 Dodge -- finished 29th
7. Greg Biffle -- #16 Ford -- finished 36th
8. Jeff Gordon -- #24 Chevy -- finished 37th
9. Scott Riggs* -- #10 Chevy -- finished 7th
10. Joe Nemechek -- #01 Chevy -- finished 11th

The top six in the driver's point's standings are considered to have mathematically clinched a spot in the Chase for the Championship. Jimmy Johnson took the top spot back away from Jeff Gordon. Gordon blew an engine and ended up with a DNF, finishing a paltry 37th. He now trails Johnson by 50 points. Earnhardt Jr. is in third listed with a -116, followed by Stewart, who is now listed with a -178. Kenseth is still in fifth listed with a -229 followed by Sadler whose second win of the season moved him up to sixth with a -278. All Sadler has to do is to start the next event and he will have clinched a spot in the championship chase.

Drivers in positions seven thru ten can still be routed out of the top ten in next week's Richmond event. Kurt Busch is in seventh listed with a -299, followed by Ryan Newman in eighth listed with a -404. Rookie Kasey Kahne is listed in ninth with a -415 followed by Mark Martin who is listed with a -424.

According to calculations, drivers in point's positions from 11th thru 15th still have a chance to make it into the championship chase. Jamie McMurray is listed in 11th with a -449, just 25 points out. He's followed by Bobby Labonte who is in 12th listed with a -460, just 36 points out. Dale Jarrett is in 13th with a -467, which is 43 points out of the chase. He's followed by Jeremy Mayfield who is listed in 14th with a -479, a whopping 55 points out of contention. Last, but certainly not least, is Kevin Harvick, listed in 15th with a –480, just one point past Mayfield's deficit.

Although NASCAR has ballyhooed their big Chase for the championship promotion since its inception, the majority of the race fans don't care for it in the least. A poll on the NASCAR.com site this weekend pretty much told the tale on that account. The poll question was this: "With just two races remaining in the Race to the Chase, how do you feel about the current Nextel Cup point's system?" Out of just under 140k fans voting, the results were: 24% or 33.8k voted "I like it." 45% or 63.3k voted "I liked it better the old way." 30% or 42.5k voted "I haven't decided." Any way you look at it, NASCAR has failed to change the minds of the fans like publicist James Hunter stated they would at the beginning of the season. Hunter had stated, "We know what's best for NASCAR and for the fans, they'll come around to our way of thinking." This new points system is a farce, only lauded by those who are making money off of it in NASCAR and the TV networks.

Next week brings about the last race in the championship chase. It's a night race at Richmond International Raceway in Richmond, Virginia, and you can rest assured that a lot of the drivers will be racing hard for the big bucks that are bestowed on the championship point's contenders at the season's end.

The Chevy Rock and Roll 400 will take place on the infamous date of 9/11. The Saturday night event will be aired by the TNT channel beginning at 7 pm eastern. Qualifying for the event will also be aired by the TNT channel on Friday, September 10th at 3 pm eastern.

Last season's winner of the Richmond fall night event was Ryan Newman. He was followed across the finish line in the top ten by Jeremy Mayfield, Ricky Rudd, Jeff Burton, Rusty Wallace, Bobby Labonte, Matt Kenseth, Terry Labonte, Johnny Benson, and Jeff Gordon.

Mike Skinner won the Bud Pole Award in the #01 U.S. Army Pontiac with a speed of 125.792 miles per hour. There were 14 caution periods for a total of 76 laps out of the 400 lap event on the Ύ mile D-shaped oval.

9/12/04… Winning when it counts! That's the way Jeremy Mayfield and the Evernham Motorsports #19 team are looking at the Richmond situation this morning. Mayfield desperately needed a win to get him in the championship chase, as did a few other drivers. The thing is, Mayfield got the job done, and they didn't. This fourth career victory was the first for Mayfield since the 02 season, when he won at California and Pocono. It was great to see Mayfield win, he's been racing his heart out, knocking on the door all season. It was speculated that this was a do or die season for Mayfield, who was desperately fighting to keep his job with Evernham Motorsports.

There's a lot to be said for being in the right place at the right time! Of course, a lot of times on a short track, winning is at the expense of another driver's bad luck, as was the case when the brash young Roush driver, Kurt Busch, ran out of gas with more than eight laps to go. Apparently Jimmy Fennig, Busch's crew chief, needs to take come lessons in Math. Another driver who needs a lesson, especially in civility, is Dale Jarrett. Jarrett reportedly cussed out reporters after the race and stomped off into his hauler. He couldn't get the job done on the track, so he took it out on anyone who happened to be close to him, mainly Casey Mears. A fourth generation driver from a great racing family, Mears tends to race his competitors clean, but that certainly can't be said for Dale Jarrett. Nor can it be said for Jimmy Spencer, who NASCAR tended to park for a while due to rough driving. Mears passed Jarrett and it made Jarrett mad, so he kept ramming Mear's #41 Dodge. Then along comes Jimmy Spencer, wrecking them all because he couldn't get around Mears. The tape clearly shows Mears up by the wall, and Spencer moving from the bottom of the track slamming Mears into the wall, collecting Jarrett in the process. What goes around comes around!

Kevin Harvick also missed the cut for the chase and was not happy with himself; storming off to his hauler ignoring reporters. Jamie McMurray, Bobby Labonte, and Kasey Kahne were also left on the outside looking in, but had a better attitude about it. The thing about short tracks is that there isn't but a little bit of real estate out there, and a lot of drivers are fighting for it.

Following Mayfield across the finish line in the top ten were Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Mike Bliss, Mark Martin, Carl Edwards, Mike Wallace, Greg Biffle, Jamie McMurray, and Rusty Wallace. The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Ryan Newman -- #12 Dodge -- finished 20th
2. Mark Martin -- #6 Ford -- finished 5th
3. Jimmie Johnson -- #48 Chevy -- finished 36th
4. Joe Nemechek -- #01 Chevy -- finished 22nd
5. Jeff Burton -- #30 Chevy -- finished 23rd
6. Ricky Rudd -- #21 Ford -- finished 21st
7. Jeremy Mayfield -- #19 Dodge -- finished 1st
8. Greg Biffle -- #16 Ford -- finished 8th
9. Jeff Gordon -- #24 Chevy -- finished 3rd
10. Jeff Green -- #43 Dodge -- finished 25th

The championship points have been reset to reflect the specifications of the new point's system:

1. Jeff Gordon – 5050
2. Jimmie Johnson – 5045
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. – 5040
4. Tony Stewart – 5035
5. Matt Kenseth – 5030
6. Elliott Sadler – 5025
7. Kurt Busch – 5020
8. Mark Martin – 5015
9. Jeremy Mayfield – 5010
10. Ryan Newman – 5005

From here on out, beginning with next week's event, the points will be awarded the same as they have been all season, and will added to the points awarded above for the championship contenders. Even though a lot of us don't particularly care for this new system, I have to admit, it does add a bit of intrigue to the end of the season.

Next week the chase begins at the New Hampshire International Speedway. The Sylvania 300 will be aired by the TNT channel on Sunday, September 19th at 12:30 pm eastern. Qualifying for the event will be aired by the TNT channel on Friday, September 17th at 3 pm eastern.

Last season's winner of the September New Hampshire event was Jimmie Johnson. He was followed across the finish line in the top ten by Ricky Rudd, Joe Nemechek, Bill Elliott, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Rusty Wallace, Matt Kenseth, Elliott Sadler, Ryan Newman, and rookie Jamie McMurray. Half of last season's top ten finishers are in this season's championship chase. This ought to make for an exciting event!

Ryan Newman won the Bud Pole Award in the #12 Alltel Dodge with a speed of 133.357 miles per hour. There were six caution periods for a total of 38 laps out of the 300 lap event on the 1.058 mile paper clip shaped oval.

9/19/04… Kurt Busch won the first round in the Chase for the Championship Sunday at New Hampshire. Busch also won the July race there this season, giving him a sweep at the track for the 2004 season. The victory was his third of the season and the 11th in the fourth full year of his Cup career.

The event got off to a rather shaky start. Mother Nature rained down on the area for the majority of the weekend, delivering the remains of tropical storm Ivan. Practice sessions were rained out, making the teams do their adjustments on their racecars during the event. The field was set via owner's points which put the Chase for the Championship contenders up front for the start of the event.

All of the "much ado about nothing" didn’t seem to be there for the initial chase event. It certainly didn't make much difference to some of the devil-may-care drivers who like to mix it up. Greg Biffle was up to par with his bump and run tactics, along with Robby Gordon, who suffered a two-lap penalty for a pay back on Biffle. Sterling Marlin let it be known that he didn't care much for Gordon when he bumped him off of the track. That wasn't a usual move for the laid back veteran Tennessee driver… Jimmy Spencer was right on the edge, as per usual, but surprisingly, he stayed on his good behavior. Other than that, it was nothing more than a usual New England ho-hum event.

Following Busch across the finish line in the top ten were Matt Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt Jr., rookie Kasey Kahne, Jamie McMurray, Joe Nemechek, Jeff Gordon, Elliott Sadler, Michael Waltrip, and Kevin Harvick. The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Jeff Gordon -- #24 Chevy -- finished 7th
2. Jimmie Johnson -- #48 Chevy -- finished 11th
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- #8 Chevy -- finished 3rd
4. Tony Stewart -- #20 Chevy -- finished 39th
5. Matt Kenseth -- #17 Ford -- finished 2nd
6. Elliott Sadler -- #38 Ford -- finished 8th
7. Kurt Busch -- #97 Ford -- finished 1st
8. Mark Martin -- #6 Ford -- finished 13th
9. Jeremy Mayfield -- #19 Dodge -- finished 35th
10. Ryan Newman -- #12 Dodge -- finished 33rd

The Chase for the Championship:

1. Jeff Gordon – 5050 | Wk. #1, 5201, 3rd
2. Jimmie Johnson – 5045 | Wk. #1, 5180, 5th
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. – 5040 | Wk. #1, 5210 1st
4. Tony Stewart – 5035 | Wk. #1, 5086, 8th
5. Matt Kenseth – 5030 | Wk. #1, 5200, 4th
6. Elliott Sadler – 5025 | Wk. #1, 5172, 6th
7. Kurt Busch – 5020 | Wk. #1, 5210 2nd
8. Mark Martin – 5015 | Wk. #1, 5139, 7th
9. Jeremy Mayfield – 5010 | Wk. #1, 5068, 10th
10. Ryan Newman – 5005 | Wk. #1, 5074, 9th

You'll notice that Earnhardt and Busch are tied with the same amount of points. Earnhardt got the nod because of his finishing statistics for the season.

Positions 11 thru 15 are pretty much the same except for the shuffling of the 13th and 14th positions. Jamie McMurray is still in 11th and is the leading candidate to win the $970k bonus . Rookie Kasey Kahne is still in 12th followed by Kevin Harvick who moved up one spot ahead of Bobby Labonte who is now 14th. Dale Jarrett still maintains the 15th position.

Next week the chase moves down the line to the Dover International Speedway. The MBNA America 400 is scheduled to be aired by the TNT channel on Sunday, September 26th at 12:30 pm eastern. Qualifying for the event will be aired on the TNT channel Friday, September 24th at 2:30 pm eastern.

Last season's winner of the Dover fall event was Ryan Newman. He was followed across the finish line in the top ten by Jeremy Mayfield, Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon, rookie Jamie McMurray, Greg Biffle, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, and Rusty Wallace.

Qualifying was canceled, the field was set via owner's points with Matt Kenseth leading them off in the #17 DeWalt sponsored Roush Racing Ford. There were seven caution periods for a total of 63 laps out of the 400 lap event on the 1 mile concrete oval.

9/23/04… Yep, that's what Sterling Marlin called him, a bug eyed idiot. A few events ago, Marlin got ran over for no apparent reason at all, smashed into the wall by the bug eyed idiot.

Last week at New Hampshire, Robby Gordon got run over by the bug eyed idiot, spun out, bumping the outside wall. Gordon decided to do something about the bug eyed idiot, it wasn't the first time it had happened to him. The bug eyed idiot had gotten into him before.

Problem is, when Gordon finally got the chance to get to the bug eyed idiot, he ended up setting off a chain of spinning racecars that collected up two of the erstwhile chase for the champion contenders. Bad move!

Now it turns out that the bug eyed idiot isn't mentioned, he isn't even considered to be a factor, all eyes and mouths are looking at and repeating the name, "Robby Gordon." Bad man Robby Gordon! Gordon delivers a payback and takes out two championship contenders. The bug eyed idiot starts it and Gordon finishes it, taking the fall….. NASCAR doesn't even recognize that the bug eyed idiot did anything wrong. Robby Gordon is the bad guy; he's their man of the hour, sitting on pit road suffering through a two lap penalty for getting revenge on the bug eyed idiot.

The bug eyed idiot gets off SCOTT FREE, there's no mention of him at all, ANYWHERE! I'll give you ten to one that the bug eyed idiot is still smirking, and chuckling beneath his breath. After all, his teammate won the race. Isn't it interesting that he sets up Gordon and two of his teammate's most serious contenders get taken out in the ensuing melee? Chalk one up for the bug eyed idiot!

So now Richard Childress Racing (RCR) tenders a big media ploy, Robby Gordon is on probation by his team! Big deal, like Gordon needs RCR at all. Gordon needs Richard Childress about like I need a toothache. Gordon has his own IndyCar team, his own Busch Series team, and you can rest assured that he'll end up with his own Cup team as well, probably associated with one of the other smaller teams, in a cost cutting move to share technical info.

Ahh, but beware bug eyed idiot, what goes around comes around, you're day is at hand…. Robby Gordon will see to that, given the right time and circumstance.

9/26/04 Ryan Newman smoked the Dover track, leading 325 laps out of the 400 lap event. It seems that when a driver/team has the key to the set-up for the track, he manages to sweep both races there in a season. Newman has won three out of the six events that he's raced in at Dover during his short career, winning both races there in 2003.

Following Newman across the finish line in the top ten were Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon, Dale Jarrett, Kurt Busch, Tony Stewart, Jeremy Mayfield, Jamie McMurray, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Jimmie Johnson. The top ten starters and how they finished:

1. Jeremy Mayfield** -- #19 Dodge -- finished 7th
2. Ryan Newman** -- #12 Dodge -- finished 1st
3. Brian Vickers* -- #25 Chevy -- finished 38th
4. Elliott Sadler** -- #38 Ford -- finished 20th
5. Michael Waltrip -- #15 Chevy -- finished 16th
6. Bobby Labonte -- #18 Chevy -- finished 14th
7. Rusty Wallace -- #2 Dodge -- finished 13th
8. Matt Kenseth** -- #17 Ford -- finished 32nd
9. Jimmie Johnson** -- #48 Chevy -- finished 10th
10. Jamie McMurray -- #42 Dodge -- finished 8th

The Chase contenders:

1. Jeff Gordon – 5050 | Wk. #1, 5201, 3rd | Wk. #2, 5371, 1st
2. Jimmie Johnson – 5045 | Wk. #1, 5180, 5th | Wk. #2, 5314, 4th
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. – 5040 | Wk. #1, 5210 1st | Wk. #2, 5353, 3rd
4. Tony Stewart – 5035 | Wk. #1, 5086, 8th | Wk. #2, 5236, 9th
5. Matt Kenseth – 5030 | Wk. #1, 5200, 4th | Wk. #2, 5272, 7th
6. Elliott Sadler – 5025 | Wk. #1, 5172, 6th | Wk. #2, 5275, 6th
7. Kurt Busch – 5020 | Wk. #1, 5210 2nd | Wk. #2, 5370, 2nd
8. Mark Martin – 5015 | Wk. #1, 5139, 7th | Wk. #2, 5314, 5th
9. Jeremy Mayfield – 5010 | Wk. #1, 5068, 10th | Wk. #2, 5214, 10th
10. Ryan Newman – 5005 | Wk. #1, 5074, 9th | Wk. #2, 5264, 8th

We all saw Matt Kenseth pull his infamous gaffe coming in to the slippery Dover pit road area too fast. He lost control and ended up into the tire/water barrier with the front of his car upon the inside barrier fence. The unfortunate wreck cost him dearly, relegating him to a paltry 32nd place finish. Jimmy Johnson also had speed problems with pit road and was penalized for speeding, costing him track position. He finally managed to work his way back into the top ten by the end of the event. Tony Stewart managed to get tangled up with Robby Gordon again, getting the worst of the deal again! When Stewart exited his car after the event, he made reference to kicking Gordon's behind! (And that's putting it mildly!) Elliott Sadler also suffered problems relegating him to a paltry 20th place finish.

Jamie McMurray is still in command of the coveted 11th point's position in the driver's standings. Kevin Harvick moved up one spot to 12th, just 101 points behind McMurray with 3374 points. Bobby Labonte also moved up one spot, and is now listed in 13th, with 3367 points, just 106 points behind McMurray. Rookie Kasey Kahne blew his engine early and dropped two spots to 14th, now listed with 3360 points, 113 points away from the 11th place bonus money. Dale Jarrett still rounds out the top 15, even though he had a great finish of 4th. He's listed with 3342 points, a whopping 131 points away from the bonus money.

Next week the chase heads to the restrictor plate track at Talladega, Alabama. The EA Sports 500 is scheduled to be aired by the NBC channel on Sunday, October 3rd, at 1:30 pm eastern. Qualifying for the event will be aired by the SPEED channel on Friday, October 1st, at 4 pm eastern.

Last season's winner at the Talladega fall event was Michael Waltrip. He was followed across the finish line in the top ten by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman, Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick, Ricky Craven, Rusty Wallace, and Mike Wallace.